Plug-oscillator support



May 6, 1924. 1,492,766

H. R. VAN DEVENTER PLUG OSCILLA'ItOR SUPPORT Filed Dec. 13 192.0 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 May 6,- 1924. 1,492,766

H. R. VAN DEVENTER PLUG OSCILLATOR SUPPORT Filed Dec. 13 1920 2 Sheets-Sheet.

"VI/EN TOR H R, L Qn Devenfer A TTOR/VEY Patented May 6, 19124.

UNIT

I 4 PATENT OFFICE.

HARRY RANDOLPH VAN DEVENTER, 0F EDGEWOOD, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR T0 SPLITDORF ELECTRICAL COMPANY, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

PLUG-OSCILLATOR SUPPORT.

Application filedDecember 13, 1920. Serial No. 430,336.

To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I, HARRY R. VAN DE- VENTER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Edgewood, in the county of Allegheny, State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Plug-Oscillator Supports, of which the following is a. description, reference being bad to the accompanying drawing and to the figures of reference marked thereon.

This invention relates to means for ignit-t ing charges of compressed gases in explosion motors.

An object of my invention is to provide means whereby the igniter may be tested in full view of the operator without disturbing any. part of the ignition mechanism other than the igniter and its coupling to the magneto.

Still another object ofmy invention is to enable the testing of theigniter while the remaining partsare on the engine so that the action of the igniter may be observed by turning over the engine.

These and further. objects will appear afterreading the specification and claims in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which: n V 1 Figure 1' is a view of my igniter and magneto mounted on an engine intheir normal operative positions, the engine being shown fragmentarily.

Figure 2 is aview of the igniter and the.

magneto,-showing the igniter mounted in a frame for test purposes.

Figure 3 is an alternative form of igniter, and I i Figure 4 is a modified form of frame for the reception of the igniter shown in Figure'3.

Boththe magneto and the igniter are of o well known types, the magneto being generally of the oscillatingtype disclosed in the patent to C. T. Mason, 1,030,243, issued June 18,1912, and the igniter being generally of the type disclosed in the patent to Warren, 1,161,555, issued November 23, 1915. The magneto comprises a set of permanent magnets 1 mounted on a non-magnetic base 2 in which is mounted a magneto rotor having a' shaft 3 mounted in end plates 4 of the magneto base. Extending laterally from and integral with one end plate is a pair of arms 5 provided with pins 6 upon which is mounted a pair of bushings 7. Keyed upon the end of the shaft adjacent the end plate just described is a trip lever designated generally arms 9 and a trip finger 10. Each of the arms has a pin 11 and a bushing 12 mounted these springs serving normally to maintain the finger 10 in'vertical position.

as 8, said lever comprising a pair, of lateral no thereon, said pin and bushing being similar-E Theother end of the shaft is ofiset at 16,

said ofi'set portion serving to actuate the igniter, soon to be described. The magneto is securely fastened to a frame 17 consisting of a base portion 18 attached to the magneto and an upstanding end portion 19, suitably spaced from the end of the magneto shaft. The end portion is of a thickness to permit, two grooves 20 and 21 to be channeled therein, for a purpose hereinafter described,

The magneto and base are securely mount-, ed on a bracket 22 cast integral with or otherwise attached to the engine 23., j

Rotating in a bearing 24 on the engine is a shaft 25 geared with the crank shaft of the engine, said shaft 25 being provided with a cam .finger 26 adapted inits rotation to engage the trip finger 10 to oscillate the rotor and place the springs 13 under increased tension, so that upon, disengagement of they finger rent. This currentis led through a wire 27 to the. igniter terminal 28. I

The igniter comprises a casting 29 se- 26. from the finger 10, the springs will quickly oscillate the rotor to generate a cur- I cured to the engine frame by means of two bolts 30. Inthe casting is IfiXed an electrode 31xinsulated from the casting. by

is fixed the contact arm 34 provided with a v contact 35 adapted .to contact with a similar contact 36 on the electrode 31. The opposite end of the shaft 33 is provided with a forked crank 37i'and-trained about the shaft and engaging the crank is a spring 38 tend ing to maintain the contacts closed. 2

The. ofi'set portion 16 of the shaft 3 is shouldered as at 39 and rotatably secured in place on the offset portion by means of a cotter pin 40 is a rod 41 sandwiched in between a pair of washers 42. Another short rod 43 provided with a slot 44 is removably secured to the forked crank of the electrode as by a removable pin 45. A turnbuckle 46 is employed toadjustably connect the two rods. The casting 29 is provided with two ears 51 and 52 adapted to fit snugly but slidably in grooves 20 and 21 of the frame.

Normally the parts are as shown in Figure 1 withthe rods and turnbuckle coupling the magneto and igniter. As shaft 25 is rotated clockwise looking toward the left in Fig. 1, the cam finger 26 pushes the trip lever 10, tensioning the springs 13 and rotating the offset portion 16 so that the coupling rods 41 and 43 are raised. The electrode contacts are not opened however because the pin45 rides in the slot 44. When cam finger 26 moves beyond the trip lever 10, the springs 13 cause the rotor to be snapped back into normal position and beyond that position so that the rods 41 and 44 move down below the position shown in Figure 1 to cause the contacts of the igniter to open momentarily, simultaneously, with a discharge of current from the magneto. The parts are then restored to normal position.

If for any reason it is desired to inspect the action of the igniter, the cotter pin 40 and the pin 45 are removed so that the coupling between the igniter and magneto may be removed. The two bolts 30 are then removed and the casting 29 is slipped into the frame 17, the ears 51 and 52 fitting within the grooves 21 and 20 respectively. The crank 37 is pressed down with the finger so that it may clear the offset portion when the igniter is slipped into the frame and engage the underside of the offset portion when released. It is now apparent that, when the engine is turned over, the igniter will function in the same way on the frame 17 as it would in the engine cylinder, no change having been made other than a bodi ly displacement of the igniter and a removal of the coupling from between the two.

In the form shown in Figures 3 and 4, the frame 17 is slitted' as at 47 and 48 and the shank of the bolts 30 are slipped down in the slits, extra nuts 49 and 50 being provided to secure the igniter in place on the frame for test purposes.

It will be noted that from the above description I have provided an ignition device for engines wherein the generator is mounted on a fixed bracket independent of the spark plug and may remain in fixed position while the spark plugs are removed for cleaning and thus the timing of the generator relative to the stroke of the piston of the engine is always maintained at the proper fixed point. Then, again, by removing the spark plug and placing the same on the means provided, so that it may be actually tripped and a spark produced by the generator under its normal condition of operation, it may be readily observed whether the generator is furnishing the proper spark and whether the igniter is functioning properly. That is to say when the igniter is mounted on the generator bracket and actuated therefrom, the generator may be actuated by turning over the engine and the compression of the springs, the position of the electrodes and other parts may be adjusted, the same as if the parts were mounted for igniting the charges in the cylinder, except that all of the parts are in full working view of the operator.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. An ignition device for an internal combustion engine, comprising an igniter unit and an ignition unit, said units being provided with means for interchangeable mounting of the igniter while in operative relation with the ignition unit either on the engine or on the i nition unit.

2. An ignition evice comprising an igniter and an ignition unit, means adjustably connecting the two and means for mountingv the igniter on the ignition unit in operative relation therewith for test purposes.

3. Means for testing an igniter of an internal combustion engine, which consists of an igniter normally positioned with its contacts in the cylinder of said engine and readily removable therefrom, a spark producing device driven by said engine operative to operate the igniter in its normal. position and cooperative .means on the igniter and spark producing device to mount the igniter in operative position with respect to said device, with the contact point exposed.

4. An ignition device comprising an ignition unit mounted on an engine, an igniter on said engine extending into the cylinder of said engine, mechanical means connecting the two and means for mounting said igniter on the ignition unit in mechanically operative position so that a spark may be produced with the contact points exposed to view upon operation of the ignition unit.

5. An ignition device comprising an ignition unit mounted on an engine, an i iter on said engine extending into the cy inder of said engine, mechanical means detachably connecting the two and means for mounting said igniter on the ignition unit in direct mechanical operative position so that a spark may be produced with the contact points exposed to view upon operation of the ignition unit.

6. An ignition device comprising an igniter mounted on an engine, an ignition unit, a frame attached to said ignition unit, said ignition unit and frame being mounted on the engine, means normally mechanically connecting the ignition unit and igniter and cooperative means on the igniter and frame for positioning the igniter on the frame for operation by the ignition unit without the intervention of said mechanical connecting means.

7. An ignition device comprising an igniter unit, normally positioned to produce a spark within a cylinder of an engine, anda generator, means normally coupling the two, an upstanding end portion attached to the generator, said unit and said upstanding portion being provided with means so arranged as to position the unit toassure the operation thereof by the generator when the unit is removed from the engine and placed in the upstanding end portion for test purposes.

8. In an ignition device, an igniter unit comprising a stationary electrode and oscillatable electrode, an ignition unit electrically and mechanically coupled therewith, including an oscillatable rotor, means for oscillating the same, springs set under tension by the oscillation ofthe rotor for restoring the rotor to normal position and means for pcsitioning the igniter unit on the ignition unit in operative relation therewith for test purposes.

9. An ignition device including a generator having an oscillatable rotor, means connected with. the engine shaft for oscillating the rotor, spring means placed under tension by the initial movement of the rotor to restore the same to normal position, an igniter unit comprising fixed and movable electrodes, and means whereby the i iter unit may be attached at will either to t e engine or to the generator in electrical connec tion therewith to be operated thereby upon an oscillation thereof. s

10. An ignition device comprising an igniter-unit mounted on an engine with the spark points exposed in the cylinder thereof, a generator operated by the engine, ears on the igniter unit, an upstanding end ortion secured to the generator provide with grooves to receive the ears on the igniter unit and position the same in operative relation to the generator when the igniter unit is removed from the engine and placed in the upstanding end portion for test purposes.

In testimony whereof, ,I aflix my signa-' ture.

HARRY RANDOLPH VAN DEVENTER. 

